It had been 489 days since City Council last met in a live session inside its chambers at City Hall. That all changed at 7:30 Monday night, when Elder Ellis Louden gave the invocation and City Councilman Ralph Taylor led those inside chambers in the Pledge of Allegiance, before members got down to conducting city business in front of a live — but limited — audience for the first time in almost a year-and-a-half. Before Monday night’s gathering, council last met live at a Council Committee of the Whole meeting March 10, 2020 — just before the COVID-19 nightmare arrived. City Council has met virtually since April 13, 2020, going through growing pains in adapting to the new teleconference environment, including forgetting to unmute microphones on their computers before speaking and sometimes talking over one another.
Health officials reaching out to low-vaccination areas
Airman First Class Dakeem Blackiston, the vaccinator, was armed with about a dozen doses of COVID-19 vaccine — a mix of Pfizer and one-time Johnson & Johnson shots. Also on hand was Kelsey Grant, tracer/field investigator with Delaware’s Division of Public Health, offering a $10 gift card to anyone who got immunized. But 40 minutes into the walk-in clinic Thursday at Laurel Junction, there had been zero takers. These tiny vaccination events are a far cry from the mass drive-thrus that drew hundreds and, in some cases, thousands earlier this year.
